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Internet Marketing for Small Business

admin — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:00:14 +0000

	Everyone knows the economy is struggling at the moment and marketing budgets are often times the first thing being cut. So how do small businesses leverage the power of all this online advertising? I will start by providing steps in order of preference and importance and leave it to you to see how far your budget will extend.
	Step One: Self Evaluation Evaluate an existing website from your targeted customer’s perspective. Ask yourself the following questions: Is it easy to navigate? Is the content organized in such a way that makes it easy to find information? Do you have at least one contact form? Do you have phone numbers and physical location? Does it provide new content? If I visit the site today, will there be anything new tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Next year? If you answered "NO" to 1, 2 or 5 you might want to consult with a professional web developer to decide if it is worth trying to save. Often times, it is easier (hence cheaper) to just start over rather than throwing good money after bad. Relax, initial consultations are usually free.
	Step Two: New Constructions Begin With Good Foundations If you are building a NEW website, consult with a professional to discuss your business model and your sales and marketing objectives. Note: Your sister’s friend at her office who just purchased Adobe or Microsoft’s web software or your cousin’s wife who has a blog does not necessarily qualify! Most businesses need more than a 1-5 page static website or an online brochure. These types of sites also typically require the person who built it to update and/or maintain the site which will result in higher total cost of ownership. There are many good open source applications available to provide web developers a great starting point for a comprehensive website. Most Content Management Systems (CMS) will provide an administrative back-end that will allow you to update and maintain your website if you are comfortable with a word processing application (like Microsoft Word). Open source solutions also keep developers from having to reinvent the wheel when an off-the-shelf solution is already availabe. It is important to choose the right open source application for your business and the type of Internet marketing you are trying to achieve. Again, consult a professional. Build your website for your customers first! Build your website for search engines second. Be prepared to update it as often as possible with interesting and relevant content. A website is a living thing that must grow to survive. Provide multiple lead generation forms (where applicable) and give your visitor a reason to use them (when possible); they are giving you an email address and contact information, what are you giving them? Give them a means to sign up for a newsletter; this is their permission to use email marketing with them.
	Step Three: SEO Now that you have your site easy to navigate and looking good for your customers, optimize your website pages for the search engines. Visible On-the-Page SEO – the parts of your website that you can see including: Page Title – appears in the top bar of your browser and is very important to tell the search engines what the page is about Web Address (URL) – may also provide keywords to the search engines Headings – use of H1, H2 and H3 HTML Tags are more important to search engines than other text on the page Page Text – is also important (especially to your visitors) and search engines also look at BOLD text Invisible On-the-Page SEO – the parts of your website that you can’t see including: Meta Description – a short description (about 150-170 characters) that may appear in SERP’s to tell your visitors what the page is about Meta Keywords – targeted keywords and/or phrases to give the search engines a general idea about the page content; it is best to keep it short – about 5 keyword phrases per page and try to give unique keywords for every page Alternate (ALT) tags for images; search engines can not read images and are also important to accessibility (visually impaired) Tips to consider for On-the-Page SEO No surprises – ultimately a human is your customer and if they visit your page and it is not what they were expecting, they will be gone (called a bounce) Provide UNIQUE content – overuse of titles, keywords and descriptions may be interpretted as spamming by search engines Words that appear ealier in Titles, URLs, Headings and Page Text provide higher weigh in search engines Less is more – use specific, targeted and concise wording for meta descriptions and keywords Sell your customer with the page content
	Step Four: Analyze Your Data This is an important step that should be done often throughout the process. Google Analytics is an incredible application that will help you to understand your website traffic and your visitors in great detail. Oh yeah, and it’s FREE. Other important items to analyize: The number of website visitors Your Website Conversion Rate (Leads / Visitors) Lead Conversion Rate (Sales from Leads / Leads) Cost per Lead or per Sale You Marketing Initiatives and Campaigns in time against the above items
	Step Five: Email Marketing for Newsletters and Promotions Now that your new (or new and improved) website has been established, it is time to start email marketing to existing customers. The first email sent should promote the new site and give your customers a reason to visit. Suggestions to get you started include: Lead in "snippets" of news articles with a read more link back to your website page with the full story Promotion of a new product or service offering with a link back to your website Register for a "give away" with a link back to your website Request their feedback with a survey with a link back to your website
	Repeat Step Four & Adjust / Experiment as Necessary
	Step Six: SEO for Google PageRank Now that you have optimized your website to the best of your ability, it is time to start thinking about your PageRank (not to be confused with Google’s PigeonRank). Note: The following quotes are provided by Google. PageRank reflects our view of the importance of web pages by considering more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Pages that we believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results." PageRank also considers the importance of each page that casts a vote, as votes from some pages are considered to have greater value, thus giving the linked page greater value." Off-the-Page SEO – Also known as Link Popularity, is determined by the number of websites that link to your website. Important considerations: The quality of the website providing the link (their PageRank) matters. The text used in the link is important. Your company name will likely rate high in search engine results when searched for by name. It is much more valuable to use text that describes your industry, location, or product as this is a "vote" for you in context of keywords. Avoid link farm submissions (see black hat techniqes above) or services that offer to build your link popularity. Avoid link exchange programs as search engines are becoming more aggressive detecting these and discounting the "vote". Identify authoritative websites for your business or industry and find ways to have them link to your website; through blogs, forums, or banner advertising. Start your own Blog - Blogging is an effective way to generate more traffic to your website. It provides fresh content for the search engines and your visitors. It provides a means to showcase your expertise in your industry. It provides a way for your visitors to provide additional feedback to you about your business. No one cares about linking to a boring corporate website but people will link to interesting articles thereby giving you more inbound links. Every article becomes a unique SEO opportunity. Add Video Content to your website or blog – Video has become a vital part of the Internet, both social and business aspects. Videos can put a real face and voice to your business. Videos can be used in Viral Marketing through sites like YouTube.com. People are likely to share interesting videos with friends and colleagues, providing valuable exposure
	Repeat Step Four & Adjust / Experiement as Necessary
	Step Seven: Paid Inclusion to Yahoo! Directory
	Repeat Step Four & Adjust / Experiement as Necessary
	Step Eight: Pay-Per-Click Advertising
	Repeat Step Four & Adjust / Experiement as Necessary

	Additional Resources: For more information check out the links below Enquiro Develops Google’s Golden Triangle Advanced Google Search Operators Google Webmaster Central Official Google Webmaster Central Blog

Refer a Friend – Receive a $25 credit!

admin — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:25:19 +0000

Do you agree our idv Community Tours marketing videos increase the value of your website?
Are you thrilled with the design and functionality of our SCENIC real estate websites?
Do your clients rave about our web video Property Tours?
Are you happy with the quality of service that DVLS provides?

Talk us up to your friends and colleagues and receive a $25 credit off your next invoice for every new customer you send us!

The dedicated folks at DVLS thank you for your continued patronage!

Featured Community: DATAW ISLAND

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:30:29 +0000

DVLS is in the process of updating our web video Community Tours library for use on real estate or location websites! Our library covers Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah and South Carolina’s Treasured Coast! The Dataw Island Community Tour has been re-released and appears on your customer support pages, our new idv Interactive Map and our older Flash map! You don’t need to do a thing!

Add our Community Tours to your website or your MLS listings in participating markets! Check out our Dataw Island Community Tour video!

DATAW ISLAND – Beaufort, SC


	Featured amenities include: • State-of-the-art deepwater marina • Tom Fazio Cotton Dike 18-hole course • Arthur Hills Morgan River 18-hole course • Expanded Lowcountry clubhouse • 8 lighted Har-Tru tennis courts • Community/Fitness Center • Indoor and outdoor pools

Our Community Tour also highlights Dataw Island’s golf and waterfront lifestyle including its 1,100 single-family homes and villas with closing shots of the William Sams plantation ruins whose tabby remains record the once prosperous indigo and Sea Island cotton industry.

Current Community Tours inventory: Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah, South Carolina’s Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

DVLS Launches (5) New Community Tours for Savannah, GA

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:23:43 +0000

DVLS has produced (5) new web video Community Tours for Savannah, GA as part of the Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah Community Tours series. These videos have also been added to our idv Interactive Map along with textual profiles and digital photography for all subscribers!

All videos can be implemented on your webpages to pop open in a new window, or as embedded web videos (see below) for a professional seamless presentation — with an option to turn off auto-play which requires the visitor press PLAY to start the video!

Other Community Tours include:
Battery Point Plantation, Burnside Island, Dutch Island, Emerald Pointe and Isle of Hope

Current Community Tours inventory: Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah, South Carolina’s Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

New Community Tours: Richmond Hill, GA and St. Helena Island, SC

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:18:43 +0000

DVLS has produced (5) new Community Tours for Richmond Hill, GA and St. Helena Island, SC as part of the Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah and SC Treasured Coast Community Tours series. These videos have also been added to our new idv Interactive Map along with textual profiles and digital photography for all Treasured Coast subscribers!

Other Community Tours include:
Buckhead (Richmond Hill), Buckhead North (Richmond Hill), Coffin Point Plantation (St. Helena Island), Horse Island (St. Helena Island) and View Point (St. Helena Island)

Current Community Tours inventory: Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah, South Carolina’s Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

DVLS Launches (5) New Community Tours for Beaufort, SC and St. Helena Island, SC

admin — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:14:39 +0000

DVLS has produced (5) new Community Tours for Beaufort, SC and St. Helena Island, SC as part of the SC Treasured Coast Community Tours series. These videos have also been added to our idv Interactive Map along with textual profiles and digital photography for all Treasured Coast subscribers!

All videos can be implemented on your webpages to pop open in a new window, or as embedded web videos for a professional seamless presentation — with an option to turn off auto-play which requires your website visitor to click PLAY!

Other Community Tours include:
Battery Shores (Beaufort), Islands of Beaufort (Beaufort), Lands End (St. Helena Island), Pinckney Retreat (Beaufort) and Tanglewood (Beaufort)

Current Community Tours inventory: Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah, South Carolina’s Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

DVLS Launches (5) New Community Tours for Beaufort, SC

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:08:50 +0000

DVLS has produced (5) new Community Tours for Beaufort, SC as part of the SC Treasured Coast Community Tours series. These videos have also been added to our idv Interactive Map along with textual profiles and digital photography for all Treasured Coast subscribers!

Other Community Tours include:
Audubon Woods (Laurel Bay), Harbour Key (Harbor Island), Iron Gate (Laurel Bay), Pinewood (Laurel Bay) and Willow Point (Shell Point Park)

Current Community Tours inventory: Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah, South Carolina’s Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

DVLS Launches (5) New Community Tours for Beaufort, SC and Hilton Head Island, SC

admin — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:05:31 +0000

DVLS has produced (5) new Community Tours for Beaufort, SC and Hilton Head Island, SC as part of the SC Treasured Coast Community Tours series. These videos have also been added to our idv Interactive Map along with textual profiles and digital photography for all Treasured Coast subscribers!

Other Community Tours include:
Burkes Beach (Hilton Head Island), Carolina Shores (Beaufort), Magnolia Bluff (Beaufort), Seabrook Point (Beaufort) and Shell Point Park (Beaufort)

Current Community Tours inventory: Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah, South Carolina’s Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

DVLS Launches (5) New Community Tours for Beaufort, SC & Bluffton, SC

admin — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:41:52 +0000

DVLS has produced (5) new Community Tours for Beaufort, SC and Bluffton, SC as part of the SC Treasured Coast Community Tours series. These videos have also been added to our idv Interactive Map along with textual profiles and digital photography for all Treasured Coast subscribers!

Other Community Tours include: Broad Street (Beaufort), Chechessee Creek Club (Bluffton), Cottage Farm (Beaufort), Magnolia Court (Beaufort) and Spanish Point (Beaufort)

Current Community Tours inventory: Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah, South Carolina’s Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

DVLS Launches Hardeeville, SC and Ridgeland, SC City Tours

admin — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:09:22 +0000

DVLS has produced City Tours for Hardeeville, SC and Ridgeland, SC, SC to meet the growing demand in Jasper County! The City Tours are part of the SC Treasured Coast Community Tours series and have also been added to our idv Interactive Map along with textual profiles and digital photography for all Treasured Coast subscribers!

All videos can be implemented on your webpages as embedded web videos for a professional seamless presentation — with an option to turn off auto-play which requires your website visitor to click PLAY!

Other area tours include: Beaufort, Bluffton, Hardeeville, Hilton Head Island, Ridgeland and the Treasured Coast Regional Tour

Current Community Tours inventory: Coastal Georgia Greater Savannah, South Carolina’s Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

Internet Marketing with Web Video

admin — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:48:25 +0000

Video is an effective medium for conveying your message, personality and approachability to prospects who don’t know you. Video provides an extra dimension of information that helps a stranger intuit whether they’d be comfortable working with you before they pick up the phone to call. And the prevalence of YouTube illustrates a popular preference for the visual cues that reading a bio on a webpage can’t provide.

As video has become more affordable, more agents are creating promotional video Spotlight Tours that verbally communicate advice or experience while nonverbally communicating the soft skills that often give clients the gut-level feeling of comfort. Click to watch the Dunes Marketing Group Spotlight Tour!

TIP: While promotional videos are commonly implemented as embedded web videos (see below) within the home page of realtor websites, maximize your video’s exposure by including a video link on email signatures, so that every email that goes out provides a teaser video that advertises your services!

Regards,
Jennifer Jones
Realtor
video profile: Hilton Head Island Real Estate

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

DVLS Tips for a Successful Real Estate Website

admin — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:21:32 +0000

Template websites make real estate websites affordable in today’s tough economy, but many agents are surprised when they invest in a domain name and website but the leads they expect never roll in!

Before you sign up for any website, consider the following factors:

Intuitive navigation system

Would YOU use your prospective website to research local real estate? For many template sites, their navigation system is just a long list of pages with no organization to them. Will your navigation system be organized to lead visitors where they want to go, or will it just provide a long list and let them find their own way?

New pages

As your content changes, can you create new pages and navigation menus for your website? Is it easy to do, or do you have to pay a webmaster to do it? If your website can’t evolve without paying your webmaster, the savings of cheap template sites are short-lived!

Rich website content

The Internet is used for research! Will your website be more than just a virtual business card? Dynamic content keeps your visitors on your site longer and keeps them coming back for more! Provide your visitors with a content-rich website they’ll want to bookmark!

Targeted audiences

Websites that appear to target everyone may end up interesting no one! What experience can you convey for different markets? Will you be able to organize your website to address the needs of condo buyers, first-time buyers, investors or retirees? Website visitors have short attention spans! Will you be able to make your experience and content easy to find?

Community content

According to NARâ€™s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, community content is second only to listings! Will it be easy to add and update community content? Interactive maps are efficient space-savers, and many offer web video in addition to text and digital photography about communities, schools and area businesses. Look for those with built-in lead generation and branded contact sheets and branded printable brochures so anything that’s printed has your contact information on it! Avoid those that pop up in a separate window: keep visitors on your website!

Video content

While at first blush this may seem like a shameless plug, and it is because it’s our newsletter, you don’t have to log hours on YouTube to realize that web video is a popular and effective means of connecting with your audience and sharing information! Would YOU rather watch a video or cycle through still images? And since video has become more affordable, more agents are creating promotional videos that begin to establish a relationship with their prospects by conveying their personality, style and approachability! How easy will it be to add web video content to your new website?

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

Tip #3: Add Community Tours to your featured listings!

admin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:51:56 +0000

As a subscriber to the DVLS library of Community Tours, City Tours and Regional Tours, you are already leveraging the power of web video to draw visitors to your real estate website! This newsletter is the continuation of a series that answers the question, “How can I maximize the value of my subscription?”

Tip #3: Add Community Tours to your featured listings!

Your website’s download traffic increases when our videos are easy to find!

Maximize the information your website’s featured properties provide with our web video Community Tours, City Tours and Regional Tours! It’s easy and it requires no technology! NOTE: Property Tours sold separately!

Current inventory: Greater Savannah, Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

DVLS announces new web video City Tours for SC!

admin — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:45:00 +0000

On Friday, April 18, 2008 DVLS launched their new City Tour and Regional Tour video product lines for South Carolina’s Treasured Coast to complement their existing library of Community Tours! All of our videos can pop open a new window or be implemented as embedded web videos directly in webpages (see below) for seamless integration.

City Tours feature:	Regional Tours feature:
• Local flavor	• Transportation
• Culture	• Recreation
• Lifestyle	• Local industries
• Shopping	• Universities
• Dining	• Healthcare
• Parks	• Area history

Available City Tours include Beaufort, SC, Bluffton, SC, and Hilton Head Island, SC, plus the Treasured Coast Regional Tour!

Coming soon: City Tours for Greater Savannah and Jasper County!

Current inventory: Greater Savannah, Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

DVLS produces web video Savannah, GA City Tour!

admin — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:33:08 +0000

DVLS has produced a Savannah City Tour to complement their existing library of Community Tours! All videos can pop open in a new window or be embedded directly in webpages (see below) for seamless integration!

City Tours feature:	Regional Tours feature:
• Local flavor	• Transportation
• Culture	• Recreation
• Lifestyle	• Local industries
• Shopping	• Universities
• Dining	• Healthcare
• Parks	• Area history

Also available: Savannah, GA City Tour, Thunderbolt, GA City Tour, and Tybee Island, GA City Tour!

Current inventory: Greater Savannah, Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

Tip #2: Add single-player web videos to your community pages!

admin — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:53:18 +0000

As a subscriber to the DVLS library of Community Tours, City Tours and Regional Tours, you are already leveraging the power of web video to draw visitors to your real estate website! This newsletter is the continuation of a series that answers the question, “How can I maximize the value of my subscription?”

Tip #2: Add single-player videos to your community pages!

For your featured communities or cities, embed (see below) the Community or City Tour single-player video directly in your webpage for seamless integration, or pop open (click here) a new window!

Your support pages provide links to all our videos! Just have your webmaster copy/paste the link to your website! It’s easy!

Current inventory: Greater Savannah, Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

Tip #1: Order web video Community Tours for HHI MLS listings!

admin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:53:40 +0000

Tip #1: Order Community Tours for HHI MLS listings!

Your subscription includes (5) free Community Tour orders per month on your Hilton Head Island MLS listings! Our tours appear as links on the photo gallery page from any website that supports MLS Searches for the Hilton Head Island area!

Just check the Community Tour box when you create your MLS listing! To add Community Tours for your existing listings, just email billing@dvls.tv with a list of your MLS numbers, and we’ll do the rest!

Current inventory: Greater Savannah, Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!

DVLS Launches idv Interactive Map!

admin — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:32:37 +0000

On Wednesday, February 20, 2008 DVLS launched their new Interactive Map that allows consumers to view their web video Community Tours to explore cities, communities, schools and businesses from real estate websites. This map is FREE to all subscribers of the idv Community Tours and is customized to reflect the realtor’s target market.

“Our goal was to provide an easy way for agents or agencies to increase the amount of community-based textual, digital photography and web video content on their websites without the cost of development,” explains Mr. Greg Parrish, CEO of DVLS. “We wanted to combine demographic reports, school rankings, printable brochures, local business listings, and city and community research all on one easy-to-use product that would also generate leads back to the real estate agent.”

With the assistance of web videos, scalable sizing to fit any website design, and lead-generation capabilities, the idv Interactive Map offers benefits to agencies and consumers alike.

Current inventory: Greater Savannah, Treasured Coast

For more information please contact DVLS!

For demonstrations of our real estate websites and video production solutions, please go to www.idvdemos.com!